The First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund (NASDAQ: FDT) experienced a significant increase in short interest during January 2024. As of January 30, short interest rose to 77,900 shares, marking a 34.3% increase from the 58,009 shares reported on January 15. This surge reflects a growing sentiment among investors, with short interest now representing 0.7% of the fund’s stock. Based on an average daily trading volume of 101,092 shares, the current days-to-cover ratio stands at 0.8 days.
Recent Performance and Trading Volume
On January 30, 2024, FDT’s stock price rose by $0.75 during midday trading, reaching $93.46. The trading session saw 466,187 shares exchanged, significantly higher than the average volume of 133,033 shares. Over the past fifty days, the stock has maintained a moving average of $83.98, while its two-hundred-day moving average sits at $78.29. The fund has recorded a twelve-month low of $51.33 and a high of $94.35. The market capitalization of FDT is approximately $999.09 million, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 0.87.
Dividend Increase Announcement
In addition to the increase in short interest, the First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend. The company disclosed that a dividend of $1.109 per share was paid on December 31, 2023, to investors of record as of December 12. This represents a notable increase from the previous quarterly dividend of $0.41, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.44 and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date for this payment was also December 12, indicating a strong commitment to returning value to shareholders.
The First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund is an exchange-traded fund designed to track the NASDAQ AlphaDEX DM Ex-US index. Launched on April 18, 2011, the fund focuses on equities from developed international markets, selecting stocks based on growth and value factors and employing an equal-weighting methodology.
As market dynamics evolve, the increased short interest and dividend raise reflect investor sentiment and the fund’s ongoing strategy to enhance shareholder returns. Stakeholders will be closely monitoring these developments in the coming weeks.
